Oh, where have all the good parts gone?”Deep Impact,” the new film from Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures, delivers a huge emotional punch but not much in the way of memorable acting.To be fair, the film means well, but it’s just too complicated to allow any character development.The President of the United States walks into the White House press room to deliver a speech to assembled reporters and the televised country. Is it a sexual scandal? Potential war? How about the impending destruction of the world as we know it?A giant comet the size of New York City will hit Earth in just ten months. The impact will set off a colossal tidal wave and huge amounts of dust that will settle in the atmosphere, killing all plants and animals within two months.Preparations have been made, and the United States sends five astronauts into space to knock the comet off its course. The mission essentially fails and America is faced with the inevitable truth: only a few will be saved.A series of caves has been created to house a select number of people. The government has chosen 200,000 people deemed exceptional in their fields to be joined by 800,000 other computer-chosen citizens.One million Americans. One million people leaving behind their families, friends and lives to go into the caves for two years. After that period, scientists predict the air will be clear enough to support life once more.With such a complicated storyline and several subplots, the characters are the ones who suffer. None of the actors receive enough screen time for the audience to get attached, nor really stand out after the movie ends.As the leader of a doomed country, Freeman fails to deliver the same high-caliber acting shown in such gems as “Seven” and “Shawshank Redemption.” His character is believable but not truly moving.Tea Leoni is meant to portray a woman driven to become a famous reporter, eventually breaking the story about the comet. However, the hunger is lacking and she seems only mildly interested in her supposed dream, showing almost no emotion as she achieves it.As the over-the-hill commander leading a group of much younger astronauts, Robert Duvall delivers probably the best performance. Yet even his merit cannot save his fellow actors.However, the movie’s redeeming quality serves as the twist which will set it apart from apocalyptic thrillers to come. Neither a survival of the fittest nor complete destruction, the random selection really brings out the horror and injustice of the circumstances.While some people know from the start they will not be chosen because of their age, others must await the outcome of the human lottery. As members of the U.S. military collect the people chosen for the caves, those who will be left behind beg for salvation and hold crying children aloft to plead for their exemption.The theme’s sheer magnitude is enough to affect the audience, but the characters serve as mere catalysts of imagination. The actors allow the emotion to carry them instead of vice versa, causing the audience to be more affected by imagining ourselves in their place.”Hope survives,” the trailers claim. I wish the same could be said for good acting.